Caltrain crash victim aided the needy

Caltrain

Published 9:00 am, Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Judith Goldblatt in an undated photo with Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind. Goldblatt was killed April 15 when her car was hit by a Caltrain in Palo Alto.

Judith Goldblatt in an undated photo with Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind. Goldblatt was killed April 15 when her car was hit by a Caltrain in Palo Alto.

Photo: Courtesy Of Wilson Allen

Caltrain crash victim aided the needy

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(04-19) 09:00 PDT PALO ALTO --

A 65-year-old woman involved in helping needy people in her hometown of Indianapolis was identified Monday as the driver killed when her car became trapped on railroad tracks in Palo Alto and was hit by a Caltrain.

Judith Goldblatt and her husband, Lawrence, were visiting her sister Friday when their rental car was trapped on the tracks at Charleston Road at Alma Street. Within moments, a northbound Caltrain came bearing down on the Nissan Altima.

Lawrence Goldblatt clambered out of the passenger seat and escaped. His wife did not. The train slammed into the Nissan about 5 p.m., killing Judith Goldblatt instantly. Investigators are looking into whether the car was unable to move because of traffic.

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Judith Goldblatt routinely drove when the couple traveled, said friend John Lilienkamp. "If there was anyone I know I would drive with, it would be Judy," he said. "If anybody's in control of their environment, it's Judy. The irony of this is pretty remarkable."

Friends said Judith Goldblatt was a hard-working woman dedicated to improving the lives of people in Indianapolis. She was a member of Greater Indianapolis for Change, a grassroots movement that grew out of efforts to elect Barack Obama president in 2008.

"She was full of life, always the center of activity," said a friend, Elaine Selmier, 64, of Indianapolis. "Whatever was shaping up, Judy was in the middle of it."

While working on a voter-registration campaign, Judith Goldblatt won the heart of everyone she encountered, including drug addicts, alcoholics and homeless people on Indianapolis' more hardscrabble streets, said her friend Linda Madry.

"She gave love to them," Madry said. "If they were hungry, she would feed them. If they were thirsty, she would make sure they had something to drink." Some of those she helped scraped together whatever spare change they could to contribute, Madry said. "This was their way to say that they love her," she said.

Another friend, Jyoti Weaver, 60, said Goldblatt was "an avid supporter of Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign. She worked tirelessly, every weekend, rain or shine, registering voters." She was "driven and energetic," Weaver said. "She just helped anybody who would ask."

Goldblatt and her husband, dean emeritus of the Indiana University School of Dentistry, were inseparable, Weaver said. "There's no way one could imagine what anybody is going through," Weaver said. "Everybody here in Indianapolis is thinking about him."